Plans
by HelloMaryLou
Summary: Regina enlists the aid of Jefferson to help her carry out her plans to murder her husband. They need someone to procure the Agrabah vipers, and Regina knows of only one man who can do it. A Phantom. Rated M for future chapters. Please R&R I LIVE on reviews!Thank you so much!


_**Hello! I had this idea and I thought I would turn it into a story! Please let me know if you like it or dislike it, all reviews are welcome and I really do love reading them. I hope you all enjoy! :)**_

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"Your Majesty," Claude said as he dipped low in respectful bow, "The Leaper has arrived."

Claude touched his gloved hand to the gleaming handle of his sword, his back totally erect with the heavy importance of his rank.

Regina sat at the vanity scribbling away in her diary, but at the mention of her anticipated caller the long quill stopped suddenly against the gold trimmed page.

She looked at him in the mirror, not even bothering to turn around, and let a secret little smile dance across her painted mouth.

"Show him in." she commanded in an usually warm tone.

Claude nodded and bowed again before turning on his heels and carefully closing the two heavy chamber doors.

Regina quickly dipped her quill back in its ink pot and blew gently against the wetness of her false confessions and desires that littered the scented pages.

She closed the journal and checked her face in the large gilded mirror.

She smiled broadly at herself knowing that she was one step closer to getting delicious revenge against her beautiful step-daughter.

Yet in the back of her mind Regina knew this plan was extremely precarious and if she should fail, her lovely neck would be on the chopping block.

She touched a long, aristocratic hand to her throat and thought of the breeze that she would feel when the executioner swung his blade.

_She must not fail._

"Am I interrupting a private moment?"

She heard the familiar, cheery voice and dropped her hand from her neck and whirled around to see her long-awaited guest.

"_Jefferson!_" Regina exclaimed with such happiness it nearly almost seemed sincere.

Jefferson the Realm Jumper stood grinning like a Cheshire cat with his battered haberdasher's case at his side.

Boyishly handsome with a flippant attitude towards love he always boasted of the numerous hearts he had broken between this realm and all the others he visited.

He eyed her up and down, seeing not a trace of the young girl whom he had met years and years ago.

She crossed the room with quick graceful strides, one hand held out in front of her ready for his salutary kiss.

The pale pink sateen of her gown rustled against heavy petticoats and cages, her deep cut collar was trimmed in rich dark ermine as well as the hem of her gown.

The thick, raven hair was done neatly up in mass of pinned curls at the back of her head; not a scant hair was out of place.

He observed her face, painted perfectly.

She was a queen now in every sense of the word.

_Or at least that's what she pretends to be._

Jefferson received her hand as if he weren't worthy of such an honor.

"You are much better looking now than you were when I first met your Majesty."

It was meant as a barb but he pulled it off wonderfully as a jest.

Regina narrowed her eyes but managed to laugh it off.

"You should find me _much_ changed Jefferson." She purred with doe eyes.

"Yes, I think it is safe to say that I do." His eyes worked across her face suspiciously.

She sighed pleasantly and smiled brilliantly before clasping her white lace hankie in her hands and announcing that she would call for tea.

"You must be simply famished Jefferson, how about a little tea party?"

The last part was meant as a counter stab; a Wonderland barb against his already "damaged" psyche.

A sick looked shadowed his face for only a second and then he was grinning again.

"You are a charming hostess Majesty." He beamed as she led him to the little sitting place before the fire.

Regina stifled the urge to roll her eyes and smiled humbly at his false compliment.

She gestured to a little gilt chair across from her and sat his parcel down beside of him on the floor.

She chatted eagerly and sweetly, full of wonderment at how his life had been these last years as if she had no idea of his foolish mishaps in love and life.

When the tea came she poured and served herself, just like her mother had taught her, all the while keeping up animated, jovial conversation.

Regina smiled a little to herself when he dashed around questions of family and children.

He did not want her to know about his daughter or Alice.

But she knew.

_It was her business to know._

"I couldn't touch another crumb!" He laughed as he sat down his drained cup.

Regina laughed easy and low as she raised her own cup to her lips.

Jefferson eased back in his chair and crossed one long leg over the other, revealing bright orange socks.

"You still have an odd taste in dressing." The queen giggled.

He only smiled and shrugged his square shoulders indifferently.

"I suppose some things never change."

The maid came and collected the tea service and Regina thanked her warmly.

Jefferson smiled at her pathetic, transparent acting abilities.

"Well, what shall we talk about now Majesty?"

"We're friends Jefferson! Call me Regina like old times, there's no need for any formalities here."

She grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

A cold shiver ran up his spine, but he managed at weak smile, "Regina then."

"Tell me," he said in an uninterested tone, "where is your husband the King?"

Regina's face iced over.

"Hunting I believe." She clipped coldly.

"Pity, I would have enjoyed meeting him."

"Yes, _pity_." She hissed, trying to contain the venom in her tone.

"Do you still take black magic lessons from The Dark One?" Jefferson said suddenly in a very indiscreet voice.

Her black eyes snapped up to his happy face angrily and she very nearly threw him across the room.

"_I beg your pardon?!_" she exclaimed with insult.

"Ah, then you do." He answered smugly.

She narrowed her eyes dangerously and let her upper lip curl just a little, exposing her perfect teeth.

But Jefferson wasn't afraid of her.

"Why don't we just stop this little charade Regina and you can tell me _exactly _why you asked me to come here."

"I didn't _ask_ you Hatter, I _commanded_ you." She spat back at him.

"_Of course." _He snapped back.

He pushed himself up in his chair and placed his palms flat on his thighs, "So why don't we just get on with it then, hmm?"

His voice was tinny and sharp, not his usual light joking tone.

"You have become shrewd in your old age Jefferson." Regina smiled, "Ordering me to lay the cards all out on the table, as if I couldn't break your neck with a wave of my hand."

She wiggled her long fingers and giggled.

"You wouldn't do that Regina."

"Really now? Why wouldn't I?"

Jefferson cocked his head and let a corner of his mouth draw up in a half smile, "You need me to do something for you, and you must need me _very_ badly."

Regina scoffed, "And why do you think_ I_ need _you_?"

"Because you would have killed me for my insolence the moment I opened my mouth."

"Well aren't you clever." She gritted out.

"No, I just know how to recognize a desperate person."

Regina bit her bottom lip at his insult, fighting the urge to rip out his heart and crush it.

Jefferson reached down, picked up his case and placed it in his lap, "Are you ready to talk business now Majesty?"

"Oh Jefferson," she cooed, "I am _always _ready to talk business."

* * *

"_You're mad Regina!_" Jefferson railed at her from his place before the fire.

"Well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black, _Mad Hatter_!?"

He cradled his head in his long hands; she was being stupid and single-minded.

"I won't do it Regina, I refuse to go back there." He suddenly said in a grave tone.

Regina dashed over to her vanity, picked up her diary and slammed it down on the side table beside of Jefferson.

"Do you see this?!" she hissed in his ear, "_This_ is the second most important piece to my plan! You and that damn hat are the _first_!"

"So what Regina? You can't force me to do anything, you aren't _that _powerful."

"Not _that _powerful?" she laughed mockingly, "You don't seem to realize who you are dealing with, I _am_ that powerful Jefferson and I can _force_ you to do whatever I want!"

He rolled his tawny eyes at her and scoffed, "What are you going to do to me? Kill me? Rip out my heart? That will get you _nowhere_ Regina and you know it. You need _me_, you need _my_ help and I am not going to give it to you so you can murde_r_ your husband!"

'She will kill me now' he thought to himself and all he could see was Alice and Grace.

But she didn't kill him.

She smiled at him.

A slow, scary smile that was meant to chill the blood in his veins.

A smile like that of The Dark One.

"What a speech." She deadpanned, "How moving. I'm very near to tears."

Regina circled around so that she was in front him, looking down with a strange glitter in her dark eyes.

"You're right; I _can't_ force you to help me, but I _can_ offer you a proposition."

Jefferson clenched his jaw.

"I take your silence as an agreement to continue." She purred.

He narrowed his amber eyes at her, "You have _nothing_ I want."

Regina clapped her hands together, "OH! Well you see that's where you are terribly, horribly wrong!"

His back became rigid.

"That blonde lunatic who dresses like she's in perpetual puberty you smuggled in from Wonderland might be something of worth to you," Regina smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt casually, "…and the little girl she bore you, _Grace_ is her name is it not?"

"_How did you know about my family?!_" he roared.

Regina spun around and hissed, "_There is nothing I do not know!_"

Jefferson cowed under her melting stare.

"You have no heart Regina."

"Tell me something I don't know." She threw over her shoulder as she made her way back over to the vanity.

"I suppose I have no choice now." He muttered, defeated.

"No you don't so why don't you go over in the corner and cry about it."

Jefferson stood and rubbed his forehead, "What do I get in return for this?"

Regina grinned and walked slowly over to him, "My darling Jefferson," she said sweetly as she laid her hands on his chest, "You and your family get to live happily ever after."

He shuddered and pulled away from her.

"Only you can transport me to this land Jefferson."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this land is? They don't have magic like ours Regina; they regard it as pure evil."

She rolled her eyes but he continued.

"That realm has inhabitants that are totally foreign to us here; there are monsters that can destroy a man with little to no effort."

"Well then they've not yet met me." Regina said proudly.

Jefferson only shook his head, "You don't understand! There are things over there that can suck the blood from your veins! There are reanimated corpses wandering through the fields and forests! Their King is _invisible_, Regina! And he is powerful, much more so than you."

If she was scared she didn't show it.

"My magic can destroy any abomination." She said stiffly.

"Regina, who you seek in this land, carries a dangerous past."

Jefferson stepped towards her and touched her shoulder, "So many have died at his hand."

"But he has been to Agrabah Jefferson! He built a maze of mirrors for the Sultan! He is the only one who can procure the Agrabah vipers for me! Everything is in place, I _need_ him!"

Regina's eyes danced wildly as she bellowed at Jefferson; she was so close to getting her revenge.

"He has been underground for decades Regina! There are only rumors of where his hiding place is! Even if we did go to his realm there's a slim chance that he would be where the tales say he is!"

"It's a chance I am willing to take." She countered smoothly.

Jefferson gnashed his teeth and turned away from her angrily.

"He is like a ghost, a phantom if you will and he can easily murder us both! I've heard of his powers to bend the mind, his illusions that make you hallucinate. He's too dangerous Regina."

He slammed his palms down on the marble mantle to illustrate the gravity of this mysterious magician's power.

But the Queen remained undaunted.

"I suggest you unpack your hat Jefferson, I am going to write a note to my husband explaining that I am taken with headache and will be in bed for the rest of the day and that I do not wish to be disturbed." She waved her hand and with a light puff of smoke had a neatly enveloped letter in her hand, "I expect to be leaving within the next half hour."


End file.
